New bike and a strange noise

[Talon]

ok so i just got an old 1982 GS 1100 and its kinda beat up, but it runs good and is really fast. the biggest thing that worries me right now is the noise it makes when idling at low rpms while cold. The noise only really lasts for a few min after starting the bike.

I took a movie of it with my camera but you can't really see anything cause its dark and in my garage below my apartment building. the noise also seems to be coming from the lower part of the engine/crankcase.

http://talon.tttc.ca/MOV00131.MPG

The bike also needs a new seat, a new back tire, has a hole in the right muffler, has some seeping valve gaskets and needs some work done on the brakes. I like it so far it has about 29000 km on it and i only paid $800 cdn for it.
anyway i'm wondering if that noise is something critical or something that can be fixed/prevented. I do want to make this a winter project but i don't want to just waste time/money on it if its going to die in the near future.

I want to turn it into a sport chopper of sorts, keep the existing frame but change out the seat and rear of the body and maybe the gas tank as well, wrap the pipes, and replace the missing side covers with flat sheet metal ones. For the pipe that has a hole in it would it work to get a piece of metal welded over top of the hole that is already there, then wrap it?

well here's some pictures of my awesome bike...





and you can kinda make out my other bike here which is a 99 Shadow Aero 1100, and there's also that rusted out pipe which pops a hell of a lot while decelerating, right now the GS is louder than my shadow even while wearing earplugs...

[Nessism]

I'm not an expert on the details but the clutch hubs develop play on the big bore GS bikes. You might want to pull off the clutch cover and have a look see.

[t3rmin]

Which side is it loudest? Does it change when you pull the clutch lever?

[marz]

ooooohhh

to tell you the truth id be a little weary.i just pulled apart an engine that had the same sort of nosie.( although i did put 5k at least on it)it had two main parts of a broken gear box in it as well as other things.( it could only do about 120 kmh.my new one does about 180 with alittle bit left.)the valves were out. i should ajust the clutch,set the valves and see if it still does
make the noise.whence you do the valves you can mesure the cam chain at the same time(dont touch the tensioner.)get a manual or check the site .for mesurements ect mine 750 is diff.im sure somone here can help in that regard.
good luck looks good

just listened again sounds like the cam chain is about had it .it will get less aparent as it gets warmer.and thouse are deffinetly the gears making that irregular noise.

[Talon]

man you guys work fast!
yeah pulling in the clutch makes the noise totally go away, and its coming from the right side of the bike. so i get to pull that apart and have some fun then?
hah, i just finished fixing an electrical problem on my other bike

[rphillips]

Looks like you already have one of those cruiser-chopper style bike, What you have looks like it would make a very good sport bike, with not too much effort or expence. Sounds like clutch basket is either loose or worn out, kind of normal with the GS 1100 E's. Looks too good to butcher, Check the parts for sale forum here at gsr & watch e-bay for parts. Never saw many exaust patches work very well, but what have you got to loose. Good luck.

[Talon]

heh yeah i already have a cruiser but i'm trying to sell that one and if i do i'll probably get a vtx 1800 i think. anyway yeah i'm just not a fan of the rear end of my bike, its to high and long and looks ugly to me.
i found this picture last week and it has kinda inspired me to want to chop up this bike i just got.



this bike has the best of both worlds, hard mean looks and good speeds. it looks like he used a marauder rear fender and possibly seat as well which might be easier to fit onto a GS because they're both made by suzuki correct?

anyway i'll get to taking off my clutch cover and such next weekend as i have to work this saturday... but because of that i get next friday off!

[rphillips]

Different strokes for different folks. I guess if I had that guy's bike, & it was all I had to get around on, I would ride it. but only till I could afford to get something I wouldn't be embarrased to be seen on. Like they say, to each his own. Good luck

[chef1366]

I have a clutch basket that will work better than the one you have. It's not perfect and the springs on the back plate are a bit loose but a good quick fix until you get a rebuilt one off ebay or send yours off to Falicon or Ape to get redone.

[Talon]

ok so i pulled my clutch cover off today and peeked inside and everything seems to be fairly solid except the clutch release rack seems to maybe have more side to side play than it should... anyway i'm kinda looking for where to go from here. another thing is that i think the carbs are in dire need of a sync, i took the bike out for a ride the other night and cracked it open for the first time since i got it and once it got to around 7000 rpm it took off like had a huge power surge. i've read that out of sync carbs can also make your clutch noisy for some reason.

*edit* also i've been having a heck of a time trying to find a service manual for a 1982 gs1100 thats a chain drive

here's a picture for fun!

[chef1366]

That's normal for that to have some play.

[Talon]

hmm, could the clutch basket be fine then? i'm not really sure what to check here, i've been reading a pdf of a suzuki service manual for a 1980 GS1000 and it covers the dissembling of the clutch and checking the driven and driving plates for distortion, but dosent mention anything about the clutch basket itself.

[hampshirehog]

I'd advise the carb synch - if you think a GS clutch rattle can sound bad with the carbs out of synch you should hear a DOHC Honda 4. It never ceases to amaze me on my 1100F just how much quieter it gets after a synch.

Wally

[Nessism]

hmm, could the clutch basket be fine then? i'm not really sure what to check here, i've been reading a pdf of a suzuki service manual for a 1980 GS1000 and it covers the dissembling of the clutch and checking the driven and driving plates for distortion, but dosent mention anything about the clutch basket itself.

To check for clutch basket wear, I think the idea is to grab hold of that outer clutch basket and rotate it to see if you get relative motion relative to the gear. The basket is spring loaded so to speak and the idea being to smooth out the power pulses. Said springs sometimes develop play which leads to noise.

[BassCliff]

Hey howdy hey!

Mr. Talon,

I don't believe I've yet had the pleasure to do this...

Let it be known that on this day you are hereby cordially and formally welcomed to the GSR Forum as a Junior Member in good standing with all the rights and privileges thereof. I see that you have figured out that pictures can improve your good standing. :-D

You may already have it, but if you click the link to my little webpage below you'll find a PDF manual for a GS1000E/S/L that may be of some use. Thanks for joining us.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
(The unofficial GSR greeter)